November 12 - David's House Bright Space Grand Opening

November 12 - David's House Bright Space Grand Opening

We were invited to the David's House Bright Space Grand Opening the last time we were up at David's House and I was asked to give a speech. Even though it is a long drive we decided it was well worth it to give back to the organization that gives so much to us. They truly are our home away from home.

We got there a little early, and had plenty of time to mingle and talk to everyone. We were even more honored to be invited once we got there as we found out that we were the only family there to represent all of the families that go through the house.

The Grand Opening started with a few speeches by members of the different organizations. I was the last to speak. Here is my speech:

"Good Afternoon! What an amazing day today is to see everyone gathered here at the place we call our home away from home.

On New Years Eve, Levi was diagnosed with Upshaw-Schulman Syndrome an ultra rare genetic blood disorder which requires regular plasma infusions. We live 2 hours from here and the thought of driving here every 3 weeks with a 20 month old at the time was daunting and overwhelming, knowing that he would need to sit for a 2 hour drive, then a 5 hour appointment, and then another 2 hour drive was a scary thought. We started looking into hotels and other options of being able to spread that time out. But even that wouldn't be fun. A 20 month old in a hotel is as much a nightmare as the drive, needing to keep quiet, having no toys to play with, and having to sit at restaurants for dinner is both a lot of work and expensive. We started seeing our savings dwindle and our minds get stressed.

At the end of February we learned about David's House and stayed here for the first time. Our family fell in Love. It was the perfect place for Levi. He had places to run in the playroom or on the playground, we could eat here and nobody questioned if he was walking around while eating or being a little louder then normal, there are toys and books for him, and there are other families and children to talk to and play with. 3 weeks later we came again, and we've been here at least every 3 weeks since. Levi gets excited when we tell him that we are going to David's house that night!! He has his favorite toys, favorite cot, favorite rooms, and favorite place to sit and eat.

Our last visit was on the 31st of October. We arrived like any other evening, got settled in, and ate dinner. Then we headed downstairs to the playroom to spend the next 2 hours until bed time, and what did we see, but this amazing bright space! Levi ran around looking at all the new toys. We set in the fancy chair and read every one of the new books, we built with the magnet blocks, played with the dolls, cooked dinner, drove the dump trucks on the yoga mat road, built with the large blocks, played foozeball, set in all the chairs, drew at the table, and before we knew it it was past time for Levi to go to bed. The next morning we were back in the playroom for a while before heading over to the hospital, playing with the doll house and other new toys. I am sure we didn't even scratch the surface of the cool things that we can do here! Watching his face light up with all the new things he could do was like watching his face on Christmas Morning. He was so excited.

Our family is so appreciative that David's House is here for us and so thankful that bright horizons gifted a bright space to David's House. Now at 29 months Levi is starting to show sings of anxiety on the mornings of his appointment but having this place to play in to get his mind off of it really helps our morning go so smooth. He is always sad to leave David's House but the last time we were here he asked if we could bring this play room over to the hospital with us, even though he loves playing in the hem/onc playroom too. It just shows how awesome this space is for kids! So thank you! This is our home away from home and this bright space makes it even more special for Levi! We will be back and we will play again!!"

Levi was then asked to cut the ribbon and be the first child to go play officially!

Cutting the ribbon!

Levi loved getting to play at David's House! He didn't quite understand why we weren't staying, he kept asking Kim if he could have his necklace! It was super cute. :)

The event was great. Everyone was so nice and seemed so excited that we were there. We are so glad that we went! Once again thank you to Bright Horizons for the Bright Space donation and to David's House for choosing us to represent the families, we are so touched and honored!